Cumberland County, Tennessee
Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 56,053. Its county seat is Crossville. Cumberland County comprises the Crossville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area.United States Census Bureau, Crossville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area. Retrieved: 25 June 2013. History Cumberland County was formed in 1856 from parts of Bledsoe, Roane, Morgan, Fentress, Rhea, Putnam, Overton, and White.G. Donald Brookhart, "Cumberland County," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved: 25 June 2013. During the Civil War, the county was nearly evenly-split between those supporting the Union and those supporting the Confederacy. In 1787 the North Carolina legislature ordered widening and improvements to Avery's Trace, the trail that ran from North Carolina through Knoxville and what is now Cumberland County to Nashville, Tennessee. They raised funds by a lottery and completed a project that built a wagon road. This slightly improved travel, but still required a bone jarring trip. The road was often muddy and crossed stone slabs so that it was only passable in some places on foot. Reportedly wagons could not get down the steep grade at Spencer's Mountain without locking brakes on all wheels and dragging a tree behind to slow the decent. The mountain top was described as "quite denuded of trees." Cumberland County was the site of an important saltpeter mine. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave. According to Barr (1961), Dicky Mathews began the manufacture of gunpowder at the cave in 1859. His son was killed by an explosion at Powder House Spring below the cave. This is an exceptionally large cave and evidence of mining extends far from the entrance. The leaching vats were located in a large room near the entrance, but this room is damp and the wooden vats have deteriorated to the point that they are difficult to recognize. It is also possible that this cave may have been mined much earlier, during the War of 1812.Thomas C. Barr, Jr., "Caves of Tennessee", Bulletin 64 of the Tennessee Division of Geology, 1961, 568 pages. During the 1930s, as part of the New Deal, the federal government's Subsistence Homesteads Division established the Cumberland Homesteads outside of Crossville. The program provided land and houses for 250 impoverished families. Cumberland Mountain State Park was built as part of this project. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. The county is located atop the Cumberland Plateau. The southernmost of the Cumberland Mountains, known locally as the Crab Orchard Mountains, rise in the northeastern part of the county. The county is home to a number of karst formations, most notably at Grassy Cove, a large, closed depression located southeast of Crossville. It is 3 miles wide, 5 miles long, and over 1,000 feet deep. All of the water draining into Grassy Cove flows underground through a large cave system and emerges 4 miles southwest at the head of the Sequatchie Valley to form the Sequatchie River. The Tennessee Divide, where the watersheds of the Cumberland River and the Tennessee River meet, passes through the county. The source of the Caney Fork is located west of the divide, while the source of the Obed River is located east of the divide. Adjacent counties National protected area * Obed Wild and Scenic River (part) State protected areas Demographics 2012 Estimate }} data]] As of the census of 2000, there were 46,802 people, 19,508 households, and 14,513 families residing in the county. The population density was 69 people per square mile (27/km²). There were 22,442 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.11% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. 1.23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. According to the 2000 Census the largest ancestry groups in Cumberland County were English (38.5%), German (13.9%), Irish (13.2%) and Scottish (2.7%) There were 19,508 households out of which 26.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.80% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.60% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.74. In the county, the population was spread out with 21.40% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 20.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,901, and the median income for a family was $35,928. Males had a median income of $26,559 versus $20,644 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,808. About 11.10% of families and 14.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.80% of those under age 18 and 9.30% of those age 65 or over. Education The Cumberland County School District oversees two high schools, nine elementary schools, and one charter school. Communities Cities and towns *Crab Orchard *Crossville *Pleasant Hill Unincorporated communities *Bowman (CDP) *Daysville *Fairfield Glade (CDP) *Grassy Cove *Lake Tansi (CDP) *Ozone *Renegade Mounatin *Westel See also *National Register of Historic Places listings in Cumberland County, Tennessee References External links * Official site * Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce * Cumberland County Schools * Cumberland County, TNGenWeb – genealogy resources * Category:Cumberland County, Tennessee Category:1855 establishments in the United States Category:Counties of Tennessee Category:Counties of Appalachia